Chúc mừng Giáng Sinh!

Merry Christmas from Hanoi!
Christmas lights on our village trees.

Zoo friends

We visited Saigon zoo while down in the south. Here are some of the friends we met...
The little deer calf was born that day so was still struggling to find his feet. Can you see him in the mud?It's much easier here to separate the sheep and the goats!

Wedding - vietnamese style

We had the great pleasure of attending a Vietnamese wedding. A private ceremony occurred at the family home then the families and guests came to a large banquet hall. Once all the guests were seated, the parents of the bride and groom walked in (2 mothers then 2 fathers) to the wedding march music of Wagner (an interesting choice?). Then the couple came in with a page boy and flowergirl (to Vietnamese music). On the stage there was a brief moment where all the "western wedding" things were done - an exchange of rings, cake cutting, speeches by fathers, and pouring champagne into a tower of wine glasses - along with some definitely Vietnamese traditions of fireworks and popping of balloons (which we should definitely consider incorporating into our weddings!).
A veritable feast of food was then quickly eaten andeveryone departed in a rush at the end. We were 2 of the 3 western faces in the entire guest list of about 1000 people!

Our friends from the hospital! They were related to the couple, whom Greg had met once before.

Phu Quoc Island holiday

We recently had a fabulous weekend with Dennis and Joy on Phu Quoc Island. It is a small island off the bottom of Vietnam, closer to the coast of Cambodia actually and has been contested between the two countries in the past. It was a great time of relaxing, reading books, swimming, tennis and eating in the street markets.

Cultural highlight

We went to a fascinating concert this week featuring a cellist and an accordian/bandoneon player. The music, all self-composed, was a mixture of jazz, world music, with hints of Argentinian tango, Italian piazza and Irish folk music. For those not in the know (including us before the concert) a bandoneon is an instrument similar to the accordian, in that it is played in the same way, but was often used in small churches in Germany in place of a pipe organ. You can see it sitting on a chair in the slightly blurry photo (it was difficult to get a good shot from the balcony).

Legend of the Hoan Kiem Tortoises

The central lake in Hanoi, Hồ Hoàn Kiếm, has a famous small building in the middle called the Tortoise tower. The lake is named after the legend of Emperor Le Loi, who handed a magic sword called Heaven's Will back to the Golden Turtle god who lived in the lake. The sword had brought him victory in his revolt against the Chinese Ming Dynasty. It is believed that large soft shelled tortoises still live in Hoan Kiem lake and there is a pagoda and museum showing a preserved animal from many years ago.
In a very exciting morning, Greg and his parents were fortunate to catch a glimpse of one of these tortoises with the camera handy!

Top photo courtesy of Wikipaedia, all others belong to us.

How to make silk

We visited Van Phuc, the silk village on the outskirts of Hanoi where they make and sell some beautiful silk fabrics, clothers and accessories.
How to make silk:
Step 1 - silk worms eat mulberry leaves
Step 2 - the worms spin cocoons of one single continuous thread
Step 3 - the threads are unraveled, dyed and spun onto reels
Step 4 - the silk is wound onto the loom for weaving
Step 5 - the patterns are selected using different cards that cycle through the looms
Step 6 - the end product, with the lady who made it! (and my mum)

Silver Waterfall

One of the sites we visited during our trip to Sapa was the Silver Waterfall, high above the town.

Sapa

One of the most famous places to visit in northern Vietnam is Sapa, home to a number of ethnic minority groups and a cool retreat in the highlands from the noise and chaos of Hanoi.
After an overnight train trip, we arrived at Lao Cai station at 5am then took the winding road up to Sapa. As part of our trip we went on a 14km trek through some of the local villages and terraced rice fields. Mao, from the Black H'mong people, was our guide.
We also met some lovely women from the Red Dao (pronounced zao) people, identifiable through their colourful headress.
The Black H'mong children were playing at lunch time.

The families visit Hanoi

We had a great week hosting our two families in Hanoi, showing them around our town, eating in style and taking in the tourist sites.

Around Hanoi

Harvesting the rice

Rice harvest season also means back burning so hazy skies and the smell of smoke in the air. These pictures were taken by Greg on his way to one of the district hospitals near our place.